Over the years of my life I've been brought to the highest highs and the lowest lows... I've lived through death, lost those closest to me, but through it all my friends... not my "family" but those I called friends, some of which I'm related to by blood, have stood by me.

Friends are there for each other, and never let you forget yourself even if you need months or years away sometimes to rebuild yourself. Life doesn't wait for anyone... it continues on, but not everyone can keep up with life at all times.

To growing up in Southern California, not caring which side of the tracks I lived on... Claremont or Clairmont, Pomona or Ontario, Mt. Baldy or Lake Isabella... too many I've lost track with over the decades since, but too much of a land I will always be connected to, that forms a part of my soul, my innermost being.

To one of my dearest and still remembered friends PonyBird to whom I was blessed to be a witness to his wedding to SillySerpentine alongside ClemFox and such a short time later having to attend your funeral. I wept, open and willing, letting the sadness flow through me... it's what I do.

To the memory of what once was with Swagtail for helping me reconnect to my grandmother, letting her pass on gently with nothing left on her Bucket List and rejoin my grandfather in eternal rest finally. For what we lost though... I've wept there too. Both at the beauty of what we had... and the futures turned aside and cut away for others... imagination is a powerful thing, showing one what might be is the most painful thing at times. Recovering from that loss taught me just as much as having it in my arms.

To the old me as that old mask had taken too many hits, too many cracks formed and the new, evolved me struggled free of it to cast it off... to come to terms with it. To Sidskadee without whom I would still be struggling to find and redefine myself, who let me find the glimmer I couldn't explain and sift it from the dust and grime, and wipe it clean. Who acted as the "mirror to a blind man" and let me feel my way to my new me.

And finally... most especially, to without whom this piece would never have happened. Please go +FAV the original to give her proper appreciation for the amazing work she put in on this piece.

P.S. The quote is from Lupe Fiasco's "Never Forget You" (lyrics here)